We don’t think we’ve ever seen better racing than we saw between Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner yesterday. Any thoughts of Rossi being past his prime or Stoner being a mediocre racer on a fantastic bike were erased by the truly awesome display of skill put on by both riders. If only Stoner hadn’t crashed, we’d have loved to have seen them rub elbows right up to the finish line. The clip after the jump shows Rossi completing either the luckiest or most skillful pass we’ve ever seen going through the corkscrew. We’ll let you decide which.

Note to CBS: Fire the NASCAR film crew, let Kevin Schwantz stick to riding bikes and never again trade coverage of the best racing you’re ever likely to get your hands on for footage of American back markers like Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies lapping slowly for uncontested positions. If you want people to watch bike racing, you need to capture its excitement, not its shady corporate underbelly. >